July 15, 2023

The Northern lights were dancing,

On the waves across the sea.

The stars of heaven hovered,

Across our shimmering galaxy.

�A refrain from down the ages,

So in haunting in its song.

These ancient isles shall tell us,

Our love must make us strong.

�The wind it swirled around me,�

As we stood there off the shore,�

And listened to their song,�

Like we never heard before.��

The whalers they may find them,�

No choice may ours to be.�

Yet we defend life proudly,

For this truth will set us free.��

Memories recalled across the years,

Of rages and of strife.�

Of cetacean misery,

And the horrific waste of life.��

We wondered where love was,�

In the face of so much pain.�

I looked into the sea below,�

To find it once again.��

We travelled the wide oceans,�

Heard many call us names.�

With harpoon and gun and hatred,�

The insanity of human games.

�Some used the whales for glory,�

Some use them for their gain.

�But our crew intervenes,

To cleanse the cruel human stain.

�Is it not our place to wonder,�

As the sea does weep with tears,�

And all the ocean’s creatures,�

Look on with mortal fear.��

It is ours to hold the trident,�

It is ours to hold it long,

�It is ours to voyage forward,

�Our love must make us strong.

With the trident in one hand,

From the sea we look,

We try to regain the balance,

To return what man has took.

�And as the cold wind carried,�

The whale’s ong into the night.�

We closed our eyes and dreamt,

Until the morning light.��

We saw the pilots swimming,

They did swim into our lee,

It was in this magic moment,�

Came this song from mother sea.

�Our hearts were all a dancing,

On the waves, out on the sea.

The whales turned from the shore,

And from the islands they did flee.��

A host of ghosts on the beaches,

So haunting in their song,�

These ancient isles have shown us,�

That our love has made us strong.

– By Captain Paul Watson

Inspired by and with lines borrowed from Beneath a Phrygian Sky

By Loreena McKennitt